The China stock market on Wednesday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had spiked more than 110 points or 3.3 percent. The Shanghai Composite now sits just beneath the 3,385-point plateau although its expected to bounce higher again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat following a clear result in the U.S. presidential election. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The SCI finished slightly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financials, gains from the properties and a mixed picture from the resource stocks.
For the day, the index slipped 3.18 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 3,383.81 after trading between 3,367.08 and 3,421.00. The Shenzhen Composite Index perked 2.01 points or 0.10 percent to end at 2,049.78.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China slumped 0.98 percent, while Bank of China and Huaneng Power both lost 0.41 percent, China Construction Bank declined 1.36 percent, China Merchants Bank retreated 1.33 percent, Agricultural Bank of China shed 0.63 percent, China Life Insurance tanked 2.08 percent, Jiangxi Copper skidded 1.07 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) jumped 1.85 percent, Yankuang Energy dropped 0.82 percent, PetroChina fell 0.24 percent, China Shenhua Energy tumbled 1.71 percent, Gemdale rallied 2.44 percent, Poly Developments jumped 1.80 percent, China Vanke spiked 1.71 percent and China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened higher and only accelerated as the day progressed, ending at session highs.
The Dow surged 1,508.05 points or 3.57 percent to finish at 43,729.93, while the NASDAQ rallied 544.29 points or 2.95 percent to close at 18,983.46 and the S&P 500 spiked 146.28 points or 2.53 percent to end at 5,929.04.
The extended rally on Wall Street came after former President Trump was declared the winner in the presidential election versus Vice President Kamala Harris.
The decisive victory helped avoid the uncertainty that would be created by a prolonged vote counting process and potential legal challenges.
Traders will turn their attention to the Federal Reserve, which is due to announce its latest monetary policy decision later today. The Fed is widely expected to lower interest rates by 25 basis points, but the accompanying statement could the impact the outlook for future rate cuts.
Oil prices drifted lower on Wednesday after data showed crude inventories in the U.S. rose more than expected last week, while a stronger dollar also weighed. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December closed down $0.30 or 0.42 percent at $71.69 a barrel.